Open Windows
by ZombieOutlaw
Summary: Gia and Jake get into the habit of having late night conversations that they don't mind loosing sleep over; An exploration of their growing relationship during Super Megaforce.
1. Super MegaForce

**AN: Thanks for clicking on this story! I wanted to add a little depth into the relationship arch of Jake/Gia, their 'getting together' at the end of Legendary Battle while not sudden was a little unexpected. So I came up with this fun way of exploring why the two became a lot closer in Super Megaforce. This is a big departure from my usual comedic style so I hope I can do it justice.**

 **I will be writing a chapter for every Super Megaforce episode but if there is a demand for it, I'll happily do more. Also, even though the nature of this story could be very suggestive, I'm not planning on writing any smut - I just don't think it works with this storyline. However, there can always be an epilogue if people want that ;)**

 **So this chapter is set the night of the big fight with the Armada which I'm assuming is around the the first or second week back after summer and before Mr Burley comes back to teaching.**

* * *

It had been a rough day. The Rangers had met a new and more powerful foe and things were not looking up. Yes, they managed to destroy the squid monster thing, but there were still many more where that came from and half the city was destroyed. The Harwood County Gazette had placed the death count at 27, the highest yet. Naturally, Noah and Jake decided it was a good time to have a late night 'therapy' session to vent their anger at the Armada and possibly even themselves. It was an effective method and had worked before but currently, on the evening of a day of disaster, it seemed not to be working. Due to the absence of Noah's mother and Jake's whole family at the hospital (all very minor injuries), the two had decided to continue their session late on into the night - only after Jake had convinced Noah that they probably didn't have much school the next day.

Jake looked over at the clock, it was one am. The two were on an online Call of Duty free-for-all with some dudes in Japan but their moods had not been improved despite the fact Jake was winning and Noah a close second. They had gone through all the usual 'therapy' games - GTA, Battlefield, Destiny - to no avail and had to settle with their old school video games to help lighten the mood. However none of them could shake the feeling of hopelessness away.

Just after he got one of the Japanese dudes in the back with a knife, Jake's phone buzzed from where it was on charge on his nightstand. "Dude, I'm going to go and check my phone - DON'T kill me alright?" He spoke down the microphone before crossing the room and picking up his phone.

Gia Moran: _Hey, are you up?_ (01:16)

Jake smiled, he could't believe his luck. Gia never texted him, well not voluntarily, she usually only texted him to tell him some details on a plan or something. He walked over to his PlayStation to find out that somebody - presumably Noah - had killed him and he was respawned somewhere else on the map. But he didn't care, Gia Moran, the incomprehensible Gia, had just text him. At one in the morning. On a school night.

"It was Gia"

Noah could practically gear the smile in his voice. At least one of them was happy. "What did she say?" Noah feigned his excitement, on any other day he would be over the moon for his friend but not today, not on a day of such destruction.

"She wanted to know whether I was up or not?"

"And?"

"And that's it. I haven't replied yet." Jake swung back into the swing of things on the game - there was only 2 minutes left.

"So, you are telling me that you have yet to text back the love of your life who up until this point has payed no interest in you?"

"Yes."

"Is there something wrong with you?"

"I know, it's crazy right. I'm trying to play hard to get so i'm giving it a couple of minutes so I don't look desperate." Jake snuck up behind Noah and shot him in the head. "As stealthy as a snake."

"Damn You... Jake. You couldn't play hard to get even if you tried. Just text her back already!"

"At the end of the game." There was only 20 seconds left.

"If you say so, but you could probably stop playing now and still win." And much to Noah's predications, Jake won by a landslide even with the walk to the phone detour.

"I'm checking out of 'therapy' now, I'm way too tired to play another game." Noah huffed before logging out of the online session. "I want to hear all about this conversation in the morning. Night."

The moment Noah logged out, Jake did the same and headed back over to his phone and removed it from the charger.

To Gia Moran: _Yeah._ (01:21)

He set the phone back on the nightstand and went to the bathroom to go and brush his teeth. When he returned, he was surprised to see that Gia had already text back.

Gia Moran: _Can we talk? I need someone who isn't Emma to listen to me._ (01:22)

To Gia Moran: _Erm sure. Are you okay?_ (01:25)

Gia Moran: _I'm not sure_ (01:25)

To Gia Moran: _Oh. Do you want me to call?_ (01:26)

Gia Moran: _You can do. We'll have to be quite though, my parents are next door._ (01:26)

To Gia Moran: _You can come round to mine. My parents are out with my sister?_ (01:27)

By half past, there was no reply, Jake presumed this was down to her thinking but after re-reading the text he deduced she was probably repelled by his creepiness.

To Gia Moran: _I'm sorry, that was creepy. I promise I didn't mean it in a suggestive way._ (01:30)

Gia Moran: _Oh don't worry about it. Zero creepiness detected here. I was just putting on my coat_. (01:31)

Gia Moran: _Where do you even live? We have been on the same team for a year now and I have no freaking clue_. (01:31)

To Gia Moran: _Haha, good. 176 Madison Park Ave. The one with the blue door._ (01:32)

Gia Moran: _woah, the really nice part of town. I should have put on my fancy coat._ (01:33)

To Gia Moran: _Hehe. Come round to the back door, i'll be there. I would tell you to use the front but I have very nosey neighbors_. (01:34)

Gia Moran: _Okay, see you in 10._ (01:35)

Jake looked around the room. It was a mess. Plus, he was only in some very loose underwear - there was no way in hell he was not going to meet the girl of his dreams wearing just that. He went over to the wardrobe and pulled on a shirt, black of course, before moving over to the pile of washing he had on his desk chair and taking it to his bathroom to throw it in his hamper. He kicked the random shoes that was littering his floor into the bottom of his closet and stacked a pile of his school work that was strewn over his desk (and floor) in a orderly pile. He went over to the adjoining bathroom but there was nothing really to do, when it came to bathroom hygiene, he was very clean also it looked like his mother had recently cleaned it.

He glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It was twenty to two. Knowing that Gia would be here soon, he picked up his phone in case she got into any trouble with the people next door who have never heard of privacy and set off downstairs, checking for mess as he went. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned into the kitchen to go and get the keys careful not to wake up the sleeping Corgi in the corner. He stopped at the hallway mirror while waiting for Gia to knock. He ran his hands through his hair making himself look more presentable and less like he had been playing video games for five hours straight. He needed a shave but it was too late for that, his scruff would have to do.

Exactly ten minutes after she texted, Gia appeared at the door. It appeared that her perfectionist nature covered correctly predicting the time she would arrive. Jake unlocked the door and she stumbled in quickly.

"Your door isn't blue by the way, it's more of a teal." Gia muttered as she took of her black trench and handed it to Jake once he had locked the door. Jake could not help but smirk at the image before him: Gia Moran. In his hallway. At one am. With bright yellow shorts and an old Spongebob Square Pants t-shirt.

"Wow" Jake grinned.

"Don't - I'm not in the mood." Gia glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

Furrowing his brow, Jake remembered his manners, "Are you okay? Would you like a drink?"

"Not really." Jake took that to mean a no to both.

"Do you want to come upstairs?" Jake stuttered and gestured behind him clearly nervous that he had a girl in his house.

"As long as you don't try anything, sure." Gia warned and walked pasted him in the direction he gestured.

"Erm…the stairs are just through the door there." Jake stopped for a second and behold the girl in yellow walk through his house pretending not to be interested in her surroundings but Jake knew she was totally snooping with her eyes. Even in her bright yellow pjs, she still made his heart race. _Stop staring Jake, It's creepy._ He snapped out of his trance and ran ahead to lead her towards his room.

"Welcome to my lair." Jake smirked as he opened his door and gestured for her to enter.

"Nice room." Gia commented as she walked in and looked around. It was big, probably bigger than most bedrooms in the town. Obviously, the walls and the curtains were black but surprisingly the bedsheets were only grey. _Suppose he has to have some color._ He had his own tv in his room, and games console but other than that and the general size of the room, there was no more indication he had money.

Clearly knowing she was referring to the size of his room and the overall grandeur of the house, Jake explained himself. "My dad owns a lumber business remember, the one that Emma protested against?"

Gia giggled at the memory. They had been in one of their last years at elementary school when Jake and his family had moved to town. When Emma, still wearing pink way back then, found out that they had moved because his dad opened up the new headquarters of his company in Harwood she had made a picketing sign and set up outside of the headquarters with the local hippy group.

"Thanks to her, my dad still plants three trees to every one he has cut - and rightly so."

"Still?!" Gia sat down on the foot of his bed.

"Emma, while small, is very threatening." Jake wondered over to the bed and sat down in the middle crossed legged. "What's wrong Gia?"

Gia sighed knowing it was time to get down to business but tried to divert the subject in order to prolong it as long as possible. "Where are your family?"

"My sister is in hospital thanks to the attack and mom is over there with her. I think my dad is either there too or sorting out the wood for the rebuilding of the city."

"Oh, is she alright?" She started to play with the stitching on the bed in order to avoid eye contact.

"Yeah she's fine, it's just a concussion so they are keeping her in over night as a precaution. She'll be using this as an excuse not to do chores for the next month so I doubt she's unhappy."

"That's good."

The awkwardness in the room had reached a high point. The thing that was eating away at Gia was eating away Jake's usually carefree attitude too. She looked guilty, and that made Jake nervous.

"Gia. Why are you here?" He tried to get it to come across as genuine as possible and not aggressive.

"Promise me you wont freak out and get all over protective?" Gia said, finally looking up.

"I can't promise but I'll try. You can tell me anything and it wont lower my opinion of you." Gia had an inkling this was a comment about her guilty demeanour but the words did bring a smile to her face.

She took a deep breath before beginning her story. "Well, the summer before we became a team. I met this college guy, Adam. I thought he was great and the perfect guy for me. You know, the stuff all sixteen year old girls think when they meet someone older than them who is interested in them. But he wasn't - he was far from it."

"He didn't…" Jake trailed off.

"He didn't what?"

"He didn't, like, force you or anything?"

"No…no he didn't. And besides, I don't think he would be able to, I could still kick butt back then."

Jake smiled briefly at her appreciating her own value and probably also out of relief. "Go on, please."

"He had a way of getting into my head. I started to feel guilty that I spent time with Emma or even my own family over him. I couldn't say a bad word about him without hating myself. He'd make me feel bad if I refused to… do stuff with him." She watched as Jake flinched at that point. "He was toxic and I needed to get rid of him - Emma helped me with that."

"I don't want to sound rude or like I'm not understanding, but if this happened last year, why are you over at my house upset about it?"

She turned to face him properly, mirroring his position on the bed. "Because, he died today in the attacks. He was by the square when a building nearby collapsed on to him. I only found out because my dad was working his shift at the hospital when everything came in." She studied his face when he took in the information relieved to see he wasn't upset that he was dead.

After a minute or so in silence, Jake spoke up. "Why me? Why not Emma?"

"Emma. She cares too much about everything and everyone. She'd -"

"-She'd be upset that he was dead whereas you're not. And I'm guessing because he was a manipulative bastard that you are feeling guilty because of that?"

Gia gave Jake a stern look as a response to his harsh tone. "I thought you said you weren't going to be over-protective?"

"I'm not being over-protective, I'll telling it like it is. He was manipulative and he was a bastard to even dream about hurting you."

"You know what, you are completely right... I just feel so bad of even thinking that. And I knew going to see Emma and seeing her upset - well acting like she isn't - would just make me feel worse."

"He's still got his mind control over you even from beyond the grave." Jake muttered with a hint of a jokey tone which was met with another steely look from Gia. "Sorry, that was totally not appropriate."

Gia looked back down at her hands deep in thought.

"You shouldn't feel guilty about not feeling anything for him. He hurt you, probably deeper than you and I can imagine. It's natural for you to not care about him, I'd be worried if you still did. Did he deserve to die? Probably not but that does not mean you have to care." He said reaching out to touch her shoulder before reminding himself not to be a sleaze, especially after she had just spilled to him about an abusive relationship. "I have an idea - well I have two ideas."

This made Gia perk up and raised her head to look at him. "None of those ideas include talking this through right? I've just reveal more to you in the past twenty minutes than I have to anyone in a long time - not even Emma."

Jake gulped out of shock and appreciation at such a big statement. "Do you think he's why you're so…so…"

"Was cold the word you were looking for?" She said with a smirk. "I think he's got a big part to do with it but I am the daughter of a lawyer and a doctor - some of it is genetic." It was clear from her joking tones that the atmosphere was returning to normal now that she has got that off he chest. "So what are these ideas then?"

"Well. When Noah and I are angry or upset like today, we have a massive violent gaming session which which called 'therapy'. It really helps to get the feelings out without actually hurting anyone and it is a good distract."

"And the other?"

"I have a small dog who, unless my ears betray me, has just woken up and really enjoys cuddles."

Gia smiled larger that she had all week, she was more of a cat person herself but she was not going to refuse cuddles from a dog nor was she was she going to refuse a chance to show Jake up by beating him. "Can I try them both?"

"Of course" he said as he moved of the bed to go and turn on his games station before heading out of the door.

Gia smiled as she heard him running down the stairs. She had decided that coming here was a good idea. Jake was the perfect person to talk to, who better to not judge you than someone who sees the world in you? Gia's mind had already began to clear after the little conversation that she began to take in his room. It was just so…Jake. She could tell that he had tried to clean before she had come over as she could see the places he had missed. The thought of him cleaning up his natural habitat for her made her smile.

The sight of Jake at the with a small dog in his arms made Gia's heart flutter which confused her. She deduced this was down to the dog and not Jake as she could never feel that way about Jake. Could she? Gia was shook out of her thoughts by the corgi being placed in her lap which immediately curled up expecting a stroke.

Jake moved over to the console and loaded up the last game he was playing. "His name is Benji and from the lack of barking, he likes you."

"Hi Benji." She said scratching behind his ears as he yawned. "I hope you know you are going down." Gia looked over to him with a confident look on her face.

"Or really? I must warn you that I'm infamous at Harwood for being a pro at CoD." Jake replied with utter seriousness which made Gia laugh. He handed her a controller before joining her on the bed.

Three games later and Gia had thrashed Jake. Jake was shocked, she was so much better than him but he wasn't going to admit it to her - he was still trying to impress her. He looked over at her and smiled. Here, in his room, clad in Spongebob pyjamas, cuddling his now sleeping dog and grinning like a maniac as she killed him yet again with a headshot, she looked perfect. She always had to him but it was like he finally just realised the extent of it. It made his heart yearn.

After the fourth game, which Gia won him at, he turned off the console at look at her. "It's getting late."

"Yeah," She looked at the phone in her pocket, "I should be getting going." She carefully moved the sleeping dog of her lap and on to the bed before looking over at him. "Aren't you going to show me out?"

"Sure." He bounced up and lead her out the door and down stairs. "I was going to ask you to stay but I though that might be a little creepy."

"Pity. I would have said yes." She winked as she pulled her coat which nearly gave Jake a heart attack.

He unlocked the door and waited for her to leave. She leaned forward, stood on her tip toes and put her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. Instinctively, his arms went around her waist and his head rested on her shoulders. Jake was glad that his body knew how to act as his mind was going into overdrive.

"Thank you." She whispered before pulling away and leaving the house. She turned around and waved before she walked away.

Jake could feel him heartbeat in his ears. She would be the death of him.

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 **Thanks so much for checking this out! I hope that I've done my idea justice. I was really trying to account for the sort of stalker-ish writing of Jake early on in the series. I'm just putting it down to him not knowing how to act around girls, hence why in this series he realises when he's coming across too strong. I hated to make Gia like a damsel in distress but I felt that in order to begin this relationship, I needed a way to get her walls to start and come down.**

 **Please leave a review if you have enjoyed :)**


	2. Earth Fights Back

**AN: Thank you for such a fantastic response to my last chapter. I'm really happy you are enjoying this story - I'm enjoying writing it for once! I am not the happiest about this chapter - I have rewritten it several times but I decided that this was as good as it was going to get and decided to put it up as it is because if not, I never would.**

 **This is set the night after the end of the second episode.**

* * *

"Fancy seeing you here." Gia Moran called out as she walked over to person sitting on the swings with her hands in her pockets. The sun had settled down for the night and the park had been plunged into an orange glow by the street lights. She was walking home after spending the day with Emma browsing the mall and getting hyper from sugar intake. That day had been the first good one in a while. The city, now been completely rebuilt, was finally settling down from all the commotion which allowed them to once again be able to spend the day mulling around just being…teenagers.

"Hey." Jake looked up as she approach and smiled at the sight of the girl before him. At least one good thing would come of today for him.

"It's nearly pitch black, are you sure you should be out all alone?" Gia joked as she came to a halt in front of him. Clearly referencing the conversation they had the first time he walked her home nearly a year prior.

"Ha. Ha." Jake feigned annoyance but Gia could see straight through his act. The large grin he was trying to suppress was the main indication. "Are you sure you want to be out her at this time of night?"

"I can take care of myself but thanks for the concern." She huffed before taking in her surroundings and smirked, "I must admit, this is a sorry sight to see. An seventeen year old in the kids play park sitting on the swings alone."

"Well if you sit with me, it wont be so lonely." Jake looked up hopefully. Even if he was having a bad day, he was not going to pass up the opportunity to flirt with Gia.

"Well, lucky for you I have an hour before I'm expected to be home." She took her place next to him on the swing set.

"So…" Jake looked over at her unsure of where this conversation was going.

"So what brings you to the park at this time of night?" She started the swing into a light and steady movement.

"I wanted to get out of the house, it's a little hectic right now." He settled into moving the swing around with his feet. "What brings you here?"

"Just on my way home from hanging out with Emma. Then I saw you looking all pathetic so I stopped." Gia grinned over at him when she swung past. For a moment, Jake found her smile infectious.

The two fell into silence as Gia continued to swing and Jake continued to stare. She had not been on a swing set since middle school and was seizing the opportunity to relive her childhood. While on her way up, she glance sideways at Jake expecting to be met with his famous smile but only saw him staring. Something was up. She could tell.

"You know, if you just stare at me having fun, you will never have fun yourself." She quipped unaware to go about this situation. It was weird to see Jake not joking around, it was even weirder for him not to be radiating happiness.

She brought her swinging to a holt and met his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little stressed." Jake smiled back - Gia knew it was not sincere.

"Okay." She decided not to push it further just yet. She didn't know him well enough to predict how he would react. "Well I wanted to say thank you. For the other night that is."

This brought a grin to his face - a real one this time. "Anytime." The fact that he could make any impact on Gia Moran's life surprised and pleased him. He always presumed she was too high above him for his whimsical ways to make an impression.

"No seriously, you really helped. Thank you." She stood up and gestured for him to follow. Of course he complied.

"Why are we moving?"

"Because I said so." She grinned back and strolled over to the shore of the lake that was adjacent to the play park before sitting down on the edge and looked across the water. The moonlight reflecting across the water set her in a misty glow which Jake thought made her look breathtaking.

She reached out an patted the concrete next to her. "Stop staring and sit down!" Gia turned her head to look at him expectingly.

Laughing, he sat down at began to get lost in thought as he looked out in the distance. They sat like that for a while, content with each other's company and the peace of the park at night.

Jake sighed for what seemed to Gia like the tenth time since they had been sitting there. She couldn't stand seeing him in such a funk. It was awkward and hard to resolve because whatever had happened was nothing major, there were no clues or obvious give aways. But there was something. Gia knew there was something, and that it was time to get it out of him.

"Spill."

"Spill what?" Jake stammered dumfounded.

"Whatever is eating you away -"

"-Nothing is eating me away."

She whipped her head to meet him with her stern gaze. "Yes there is. There must be - it's like someone sucked the life out of you."

Jake was going to be defiant by the look on his face but Gia figured that her famous stare down would get him to crack, it got everyone to crack. She watched as his demeanour slowly crumbled and he was reduced to a string of sounds was slurring from his mouth.

"arghh- Fine….Fine. You've got me." Jake raised has hands in surrender, lacklustre from his usual jokes, but there was a smile.

Getting the gist from Jake's actions that the conversation was not going to be a sullen one, Gia jokingly beamed proudly at him. "I knew it!"

"How?! Noah never knows!" Jake bounded back at her.

"You were sitting on a swing in the park at nine at night. Alone." Gia retorted to which Jake reacted with a guilty smile looking away. "I was actually going to leave it but you keep sighing. I think you sighed like four times in one minute just then. Other than that, your act was up to standards."

"Why thank you!" Jake grinned at her, leaning back on his arms.

"So - what is it then?"

"It's nothing. Honestly, no big deal."

Gia gave him _the look_. The look that got everyone to listen to her and take her seriously. The look that got people to comply. The look that still slightly frightened Jake.

"It's just - I had a fight with my dad. Again…It's stupid. Are you sure you want to listen, it is really nothing."

Gia leaned over a lightly placed the tips of her fingers on his. She sensed his slight flinch at the contact and the way his eyes longingly dropped to his hand. It felt nice to know that she of all people could have that effect on him. "Of course, you helped me the other night so see it as me returning the favour."

He swallowed. Neither of them knew whether this was due to the contact or the thought of telling the story. "Well, he came in from work and started talking to me about his accounts. I had no clue what he was going on about and he could tell - so he got annoyed at me. He started going on about how I needed to start learning these things if I was going to take over the business. He was acting like I was this stupid guy who couldn't do simple math. But I'm not, I know I goof off but I'm not that stupid -"

"-You're not stupid."

"Thanks…" Jake moved one of his fingers on top of her's as a kind of thanks. It was now Gia's turn to have a mental freakout. "I got angry - I said somethings I regret. I stormed out of the house and I guess I ended up here. It's totally pathetic - I know."

"It's not pathetic. Honestly." She gently squeezed his fingers in reassurance and gave him a smile. "So you are angry that he thinks you are stupid?"

"It's not that. I think I just got angry about that because I wanted an argument. He's being annoying me lately because he just assumes I'm going to take over. He hasn't even asked me about it."

"Have you talked to him about it?" Judging by the blank look he had on his face, it was a no. She laughed which caused Jake to give her a confused expression.

"What is so amusing?"

Gia stifled her laughter and looked back at their hands still with a bemused expression on her face. "Sorry, it's just - guys are so weird… I guarantee that I you talked this through with your dad the two of you could come to a nice and even balance. Why on earth do you never consider talking about feelings?"

"Pride." Jake smirked back. Before letting out a chuckle. "Do you seriously think that would work?"

"Guarantee it. I'll even wager on it." Gia stated confidently.

Jake raised his eyebrows out of entertainment. "Oh really? What are you betting?"

Screwing her mouth up to the side, Gia hummed in thought. "How about if I am right you carry my bag around school for me for a week?"

"I'll take that. And if you're wrong?" Jake didn't really see what see gained from that, he already attempts to carry her bags for her. If anything, it benefits him in that he gets to spend a week with her.

"I'll buy at Ernie's for a week to compensate you."

"I kinda hope you are wrong now." Jake joked thinking about the small fortune Ernie probably had from him alone. "I would shake on it but… I'm comfortable." He finished with suggestive smirk which made Gia blush.

"Stop it." She feigned offence as she withdrew her hand from on top of his then giggled. Even though the loss of contact was done jokingly, they both felt the absence and immediately wanted to regain it.

Silence was upon them once more however this time, it was awkward. Both were unsure what to do or how to act now that the possibility of something forming between them had been somewhat addressed. The only movement they conducted was the occasional glance at the other in hopes that they looked like they were going to start up a conversation in order to fill the void. Surprisingly to both of them, it was Jake who thought of the words to break through the awkwardness first and not the ever collected Gia.

"It's pretty awesome to not have to think about being rangers today." He trailed off unsure on whether this was a good opening. He had spent the past year trying (and practicing) to talk to Gia in a confidential way and now that it was happening, all his preparations had gone out of the window.

"Yeah. I haven't hung out with Emma like that since probably middle school. I forgot what it was like to have choosing a FroYo flavour as your biggest problem-"

"-Or having arguments with your dad over the most pointless subjects ever." Jake added.

"That too. However I don't know if I want things to stay like this." She pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"What do you mean?" He questioned, leaning towards her.

"You're going to thing I'm crazy - oh and you can't tell Emma this, she'll kill me…I don't know if I want these attacks to end." Seeing Jake looking confused and beginning to shift next to her, she continued. "No, no let me rephrase that. I don't want to stop being needed as a ranger."

"Oh - yeah" was all Jake could get out before Gia stopped him.

"Like I know the earth being attacked is an awful thing to not want to end but being a ranger makes me feel like I belong you know? Like I'm a part of something and important."

"You were important before you know."

"No I wasn't. The only people who though I was important was my parents and Emma. Anyone else who payed attention probably wanted to use me." She exhaled deeply at the though of her treacherous past relationship.

"You were important to me."

The statement made Gia blush and breakout into a smile but Jake never saw this due to him mentally cringing at how ominous that sounded.

"I mean, I noticed you … and not because you look great … because you were smart and funny and - You do look great by the way I wasn't saying you didn't - but don't think it was all about that erm yeah." He stammered before stopping himself from embarrassing himself further.

Gia, on the other hand, found the outburst a mixture of flattering and amusing, and had begun to giggle. She watched as Jake tried to compose himself certain that she could see his embarrassed thoughts flash across his face.

Swallowing, he tried to pull back the conversation. "Look, I totally get it. Before the rangers, I was only this rich kid with a mixed heritage that was on the soccer team. So many people knew me just as that, just the facts, that I begun to believe I was just that myself. Then I became a ranger and I felt like I had a purpose, I was more than what I thought."

Gia looked bemusedly looked over at him. "I'm glad you feel the same but _wow_ \- that was a really good recovery. Very impressive." She burst out laughing again relieved he agreed with her. She was beginning to really appreciate how easily Jake could set her off laughing. When she was upset, even when he himself was having a bad time, he could make her laugh like a maniac.

Awkwardly grinning he managed to stutter out "Sorry, I - You make me nervous okay - I'm just overwhelmed - I'm going to shut up now." He placed his face in his hand and began to laugh too.

"On that note Shakespeare- shall we get going? I'm sure you'll much prefer to wallow in self pity and embarrassment in your bedroom than here. It's getting cold." Her laughing had seized but a grin was still present on her face.

She stood up and offered a hand to help him up. He obeyed and the two stood there for a second, enjoying the contact again and not wanting to let go. As soon as she realised what was happening she quickly released his hand and started to walk.

"Aren't you going to offer to walk me home?" Gia called out from in front of him.

"I thought you was going to offer to walk me home you know me being afraid and all?" He joked before running to catch up.

"I didn't want to damage your pride." She retorted back with a smile as he fell into a walk beside her.

"That's very considerate of you. How about we say we walk together for company so neither of our prides are compromised?"

"I can do that. It seems like a mutually beneficial thing." She smiled up at him as they crossed over the road to the beginning of his street. "You want to go home first?" She gestured to the street that was next to the park.

"Nah, we will go to yours first, to make up for me being a blubbering idiot."

Gia rolled her eyes knowing he only wanted to make sure she's safe. She checked her watch - she was late. "Well, if you are coming, you have to walk fast as I was supposed to be back ten minutes ago. You are turning me into a rebel."

"Sneaking out, missing curfew…You've changed Gia." He jested with a smirk and set off in the direction of her house. He knew the route well - too well - from all the countless times he badgered her to allow him to walk her home from school.

"Well that's what happens when one hangs out with someone who spends their nights at the kids park, alone. Those bad influences rub off on you."

"Oh so I am rubbing off on you then?" He acknowledged with raised eyebrows.

"You wish."

"…yeah." He dwindled rubbing his arm out of awkwardness. "I'll get back to you on whether the talking method works."

"Well if it doesn't you'll save money at Ernie's so you can't really loose. How's your sister doing?"

"She's fine and just as annoying as ever. I have been doing all of her chores which has been a joy and my mom has been babying her all week so she's enjoying that."

"I don't blame her, I'm pretty sure we both would be making the most of it if we were in the same situation." As they turned onto her street, she smiled at a memory of her own past childish actions.

With her house in sight the prospect that their conversation was coming to an end began to dawn on her. She didn't really understand the twinge of sadness she was feeling, all she knew is that she didn't want the time she was spending in his company to end. Did this mean she liked him like _that_? Gia didn't know. But in that night time conversation she had laughed, gotten to know him and spilled her private feelings again without even battering an eyelash. He just had that effect on her and Gia liked it.

"Right so I'll see you around?" Jake muttered as he came to a stop outside of her house.

"Sure." She stopped next to him and looked up at him, unsure of what to do next - the last time they said goodbye together like this, she had hugged him but Gia was sure that was down to her overwhelming emotions at the time. Looking up at Jake, it seemed he didn't know what to do either. She decided on a squeeze of the hand and stepped away bringing the tingling sensation from the contact along with her.

"I should get going - my mom will be worried." Jake gestured in the direction of his house with a content expression on his face.

"Bye Jake." She smiled up at him and then strolled towards her house not looking back.

Jake spent the slow walk home with a grin on his face, swaying around slightly like he was high on life. Gia Moran had pursued him for once. She was interested in his feelings and cared about them. If you had told Jake a year ago that Gia would be friends with him like that, he would say you were dreaming. And it certainly did feel like a dream. He was elated. Not in a creepy stalker-ish way because of the flirting and the possibility of her developing affections but because she had effortlessly made him feel better, she had listened without being asked. If that all he was ever going to get with Gia, he didn't mind, as what he did get was perfect.

Turning onto his street, he regained his composure and tried to be a quite as possible not wanting to attract unwanted attention from his neighbours and to have to hear about it around the dinner table tomorrow. If only they had known that he had been with a girl on a school night - they would have a field day. Sneaking into his house, he was relieved to find his parents had not waited up for him so he managed to avoid the awkward 'where-were-you?' conversation for one night. Walking in to his bedroom undetected, he immediately went over to his phone which he hadn't had time to grab on his way out and checked to see if he had messages.

Gia Moran: _Are late night conversations becoming our … thing?_ (11:21)

He smiled at the thought of Gia texting him of all people as soon as she got in.

To Gia Moran: _It looks like it. Are they going to continue?_ (11:29)

Gia Moran: _I hope so_. (11:30)

* * *

 **Please leave a review/fav/follow if you enjoyed! I would also like you guys' opinions on what to call each chapter. Do I a) keep it like it is and name it after each episode or b) name it after what happens in each** **chapter?**

 **I'm going to aim to get the next chapter up by Wednesday but don't hold me to that, something could come up. :)**


	3. Blue Saber Saga

**AN: Guys I know I said Wednesday but my Netflix distracted me okay! I've been marathoning PLL so blame that!**

 **Thanks for such great support! As for this chapter, I really hope you enjoy it just as much. It was easy to find a way to tie in the episode to the story but a bit of a pain to write. Thanks to Fluttershy Smile for helping develop my idea with this chapter - if you have any time, you should totally go and check out her work.**

 **So this chapter is set in the middle of the episode when Noah and Emma spend the night in the forest. Also it includes angry mama Gia being over protective over Emma so lets just say her language is not the nicest and may drop the f-bomb (also some references to sex) ;)**

* * *

Emma Goodall: _Could you please cover for me tonight? I've got something to do :) xx_ (8:23)

Gia didn't know what to think. Emma Goodall, the precious human being who never stepped a toe out of line, was asking her to help keep her out of trouble. This sudden change in behaviour had shocked Gia. The tables had turned - usually it was her asking if Emma could pretend that she was staying over the night so she could go off and do something her parents would hate - and to make matters worse, Gia had no clue what she was up to. But, as worried as Gia was, she was never going to refuse, she owed Emma too much for all the times she had helped her out.

To Emma Goodall: _Erm sure. Care to enlighten me to what you are up to? x_ (8:24)

Emma Goodall: _I'll tell you tomorrow, my phone is nearly dead so don't worry if you can't get hold of me :) xx_ (8:24)

To Emma Goodall: _I know you are a ranger and all but why on earth do you think it is a good idea to go out for the night without your phone! x_ (8:25)

Emma Goodall: _Sorry :( It's important though so just trust me I'll be fine xx_ (8:26)

To Emma Goodall: _Okay…But you text me as soon as you get home and use your morpher if you need me - Gosei won't mind if it is an emergency. Be safe! x_ (8:27)

Remembering how Emma used to keep an eye on her during her wild nights, she opened up the friend finding app and immediately tried to locate her friend. She was in a wood somewhere - Gia recognised as the wood where Troy used to train. _What is she doing there?_

To Emma Goodall: _Wtf are you doing in a forest?_ _x_ (8:30)

Naturally when one finds out one's best friend is staying at a forest for the night they freak. And that is exactly what Gia did. Immediately she pulled on a jacket and went over to her wardrobe and changed into some jeans. If Emma was not going to tell her what was going on, she was going to find out. She pulled on a boot and began lacing it up before hesitating. If something was going on in the woods, and she had first hand knowledge of what could be going down at the woods at night, there was no way she was going in alone.

Her first thought was to call Troy - he was the leader after all. She decided against it though as his over protective nature would mean he would react worse than she did. Knowing who to ask instead, she reached for her phone.

To Jake Holling: _Wanna be my partner in crime for the night? Emma is wondering around the forest (alone from what I can gather) and I don't know why._ (8:38)

As she finished pulling on her second boot, she heard the vibrations from her phone which indicated a reply.

Jake Holling: _As much as I would love to take you up on that offer I could offer you something else in return. I know what she is up to ;)_ (8:40)

To Jake Holling: _WHAT? Please don't tell me you are there too?_ (8:40)

Jake Holling: _Nope, I've just got home from soccer practice. She's with Noah, he needs help with something._ (8:41)

To Jake Holling: _How do you know that?_ (8:42)

To Jake Holling: _And what the fuck are the two of them doing together in the forest?_ (8:42)

To Noah Carver: _What are you guys up to?_ (8:43)

She laid back on the bed, no longer feeling the emergency of the situation. Her mind was swimming with images of what the two could be up to, some were based on her true stories and many of these made her cringe.

Jake Holling: _She told me? And I highly doubt they are up to what you are thinking ;)_ (8:43)

Gia was honestly shocked. Why would Emma tell Jake more than what she would tell her? It was not like he was her best friend or anything - well to her knowledge that is. But Gia stopped her thoughts before they went any further, she trusted Emma and if Emma believed she knew what she was doing, who is Gia to doubt that?

To Jake Holling: _Oh okay. You better text me if you hear anything from either of them!_ (8:44)

Jake Holling: _No Problemo ;)_ (8:45)

She threw her phone down onto her white sheets with a grunt. Not being in control or in power of the situation annoyed her and the fact that Jake was clued in and she wasn't irritated her even more. Walking into her bathroom, she started to run water into the tub before calling to her mother down the hallway that she was taking a bath. She huffed as she started to remove her boots and clothes praying that she could stay distracted from her terrible imagination and hopefully get some sleep that night. But over an hour later Gia found herself laying in bed, freshly washed but more worried than ever.

Sighing, she rolled over and checked the time on her phone - 10:23. Usually on a school night she'd only be thinking about getting to into bed by this time but she had thought that getting an early night would help to make the situation's resolution come quicker. However at that present moment, time couldn't be going slower. She unlocked her phone and attempted to located Emma again on her app but she couldn't be found - her phone must have died. Gia then attempted to spend some time browsing various social networks but she found nothing interesting other that Troy posting an extremely cute picture with his grandmother. Just as she closed down the app, she received a message and rushed to open it.

Jake Holling: _I haven't heard anything yet but I suppose that is a good thing right?_ (10:27)

Not knowing what came over her, she decided to dial his number. Later Gia would assure herself that this was purely a decision made out of desperation at wanting to know what was going on and her was a good distraction, and not because she wanted to be reassured by him.

After a few rings, her picked up.

"Hey, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Gia could practically hear the grin in his voice which in turn cause her to grin and lead back into her pillow.

"Stop flirting with me!" She meant it to be a joke but when he didn't reply immediately she knew he had took it as a serious comment.

"..sorry." His voice was weak like a child who had just been scolded by his mother which automatically made Gia feel guilty.

"No…It was meant to be a joke…" She trailed off and brought a hand to her head.

"…So you like me flirting with you?" He quipped with a hint of hopefulness which amused Gia.

"Shut up!" She made sure to convey this was meant jovially, "I'm worried about my friend here!"

Gia heard him sigh, "Yeah…I'm getting kinda worried about them too."

"Could you tell me what's going on or is it like..against 'bro-code' or something?"

He made a hah-like sound (probably at her use of 'bro-code'), "Nah it's just probably something Noah should tell the rest of the team but I'm pretty sure you could probably guess what is going on."

"I really can't, you don't want to know what's going on in my head-" She was interrupted by what sounded like a girl in the distance on the other end.

"It's a friend…yes they are a girl…get out of my room Anna!" Gia heard shuffling and a door closing. "Sorry, that was my sister."

"Ha, she sounds like she could be a handful - how old is she again?"

"She's 11… I think." He laughed at his own cluelessness. "She could be 12…all I know is she has a habit of walking into my room unannounced."

"What did she want?"

"Well, I'm sure she just came in to annoy me - she wanted to know if I liked you and I'm not going to go into that with my sister. But I'm sure she will have ideas now…thank goodness I didn't tell her your name."

The hint from Jake that he liked her made Gia blush and her breathing rate to increase. She always knew he did, he was that obvious, but that was the closest it had ever been to his feelings being stated by him.

Sensing that she wasn't going to say anything soon he continued. "Look, I'll tell you what's going on if you promise not to tell Noah…or Emma for that matter."

This brought Gia back to earth, "Promise."

"Well, Emma is helping him to train I believe - he felt really bad about the fight and he's really hating himself for it. I'm not too sure why they have to do it in the woods though. That's a little weird to even me."

Gia was relieved. Emma was not up to anything suspicious, in fact, she was doing something just so…Emma. "Oh… Well that means that I can get some awful images out of my head -"

"Hey what's wrong with Noah and Emma being together?"

"It isn't so much the thought of them two together more the acts that they were doing…"

"Ich. Now they are in my head! Thanks."

"You're welcome." She bit her lip as she decided to move the conversation on from the necessary topics and onto more of a personal one. "So… how was your day?"

She could tell that this had taken Jake by surprise as it took him a moment to gather his thoughts. "Well, school is boring as per usual. I was late to soccer practice because I was helping Mr. Burley with something weird and was almost an hour late which severely pissed off my coach so I had to run laps afterwards hence why I got home late…how about you?"

"Apart from hearing my best friend was A.W.O.L it's been okay…" Gia didn't know where to go from there and that made her nervous. Did she continue on the conversation? Did she change topics? Did she say bye? She couldn't believe that he of all people had rendered her speechless and forced into silence, she could hardly string a thought together in her head. Instead, she found herself laying there and just listening to him - his slightly audible breathing, the rustling from whatever he was up to and the occasional sounds he made to fill the silence.

"I'm sure they will be fine, they are Power Rangers after all." He tried to reassure her but Gia picked up that he sounded like he was trying to reassure himself instead.

"Totally, they are awesome fighters - and smart, they'd have a better chance than the rest of us." She added to the mutual comforting.

"I just…I just wish they would give us an update you know? And I'm worried Noah's mom is going to ask mine about him staying over tonight as they are both total gossipers."

"Me too! Emma's dad is so protective over her so you can guarantee he's going to grill us about what we got up to." She sighed and looked over at her alarm clock, their conversation had only wasted ten minutes but that was ten minutes that she could had spent in a worried panic.

"What do girls get up to on sleepovers?" The suggestive tone of his voice was obvious.

"Well we have pillow fights, we compare sex lives and practice making out!" She mocked before adding laughter when she heard his own low chuckle at the line.

"Oh wow, sounds like an awesome time." He returned with the same tone, Gia was relieved to see he wasn't taken aback by her comment.

"Oh it is, you should join us sometime."

"Totally, I'll work it in to my schedule." He had now begun to speak with a mocking higher pitch which Gia found hilarious.

Raising her eyebrow, she replied in an inquisitive tone. "What would you have done if that was real?" However, once she had realised how sensual that could have come across, she mentally scold herself. She was used to guys wanted her to talk like that to them so she was irritated that she had just given Jake, someone who at the back of her mind she had begun to care about, a chance to ruin it all.

Jake found the question highly amusing which was reflected in his answer. "Well, I would probably not have turned up due to the fact I would be a nervous and confused wreck somewhere - sorry to disappoint."

The reply took her by surprise. She was expecting him to have a sexual response judging on her past experiences with guys. All they seemed to want from her in the past was her body yet here was someone who turned down the chance to basically have a form of phone sex with her. Her respect for him grew but more centrally she felt relieved that she didn't have to go to that awkward place with him.

"Gia? Are you still there?" She heard him mutter.

"Yeah, sorry I just drifted off for a second." She answered distantly.

"Uh-huh."

She heard him yawn down the phone which entertained her a lot more than it should and she let out another laugh.

"What?" He was confused at her behaviour.

"Your yawn," she giggled.

"Yeah? What about it? It's just a regular yawn - right?"

"No - it's like the most stereotypical yawn ever - you literally yawn the word yawn!"

"Do I? Well little things please little minds" He laughed.

"Jacob Holling!" She gasped - feigning offence. "Wait - your name is actually Jacob right?"

"Sadly yes. The full name comes out - I must have done something wrong!"

"Do you have a middle name I could add to that for future reference?"

"Erm…Maybe."

"Do tell."

"Nope - it's a family name so naturally I hate it."

This only made Gia want to know more mainly so she could use it to embarrass him. "Come on! Please - I'm dying to know."

"Nope." He said popping the p.

"Fine, I guess I will never talk to you again." She attempted to sound as serious as possible knowing that he was going to tell her.

"Oh no! We can't be having that!" She heard him breath in deeply before letting it all out. "Its - Its Avriel."

"Avriel? Really?" Gia was sure she mispronounced it. "Jacob Avriel Holling."

"Yes. I really am blessed by that name." She heard him yawning again.

"Tired?"

"You bet - those laps really took it out of me. Plus it's like 11 on a school night."

"You better have your beauty sleep then - you need it." She joked while feeling a sad nagging at the back of her mind that didn't want the conversation to be over.

"Thanks for that." Even his jokes had become sleepy sounding. "Night Gi."

"Night Jacob."

"Night." She heard him mutter before hanging up.

She placed her phone on her nightstand and leaned back into her pillows hoping to find sleep too. However, a starling thought made her yes snap back open. She had just spend the last half an hour flirting with Jake. Jake! She had actually put off sleeping in order to continue said flirting with him which was crazy. Another startling though came across her head when she remembered Emma: she had completely forgotten about her friend being out late at night. She had no idea what had come over her yet somehow she didn't dislike it.

Groaning, she squeezed her eyes shut preparing to spend the rest of the night anxious about her friend... and trying to decipher what on earth had just happened.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you so much for reading! Please review/fav/follow if you have enjoyed (it is basically like giving me candy).**

 **Once more I'm sorry that it took me longer than expected to get this up but on the bright side, I am now nearly caught up with PLL so I doubt I will be as distracted when writing the next chapter.**

 **I'm really looking forward to the next chapter - the next episode is the first one we really see a change in their relationship which means it will become logical for me to write something other than them talking ;)**


	4. A Lion's Allegiance

**AN: OH MY GOODNESS - NO JOKE, I THOUGHT I HAD POST THIS LIKE 5 DAYS AGO BUT THEN I WENT TO GO AND START WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER AND USUALLY I LIKE TO READ MY LAST ONE FIRST SO I WENT ONTO THIS STORY TO FIND THIS CHAPTER WASN'T THERE. I AM SO SORRY, I AM AN IDIOT :'')**

 **Thank you so much for such lovely reviews :) I was so excited to start writing this chapter as this episode is sort of like the beginning of a mutual romantic relationship between Jake and Gia. Therefore I can start writing more than just conversations and the two can move it on romantically.**

 **Anyway, this chapter is set a couple days after the previous chapter and I hope you enjoy :)**

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It was a Friday night, and for the Ranger boys that meant an intense session of killing, racing and shooting over at Noah's house. The tradition had started the first week they had become rangers as a way to integrate Troy into his new school (well that was the lie they told Noah's mom to get her to allow him to stay the night, they actually just wanted an excuse to stay up all night on video games) but since then it had happened more or less every week depending on whether they had had a monster attack that day. This had quickly become known as their tradition and it was one they were keen to uphold; it reminded them what it felt like to be a normal teenager and not a protector of the earth.

Therefore, it was only natural for Jake to want to go to the event that night, there had been no alien attacks since the team had defeated Skatana so of course he would want to celebrate. However the shooting pains running throughout the back of his head suggested otherwise. He had only been discharged from the hospital a few hours ago and his mother had practically got him under 'bed-arrest'.

He was bored out of his mind and anxious to be with the guys since his mom had prevented him from loading up his games console. The only company he had was his phone and the internet - even Benji had fallen asleep at the bottom of his bed bored with the lack of playfulness which he would have usually found in Jake.

Huffing, he pulled open his text messages and typed out a message to Noah.

To Noah Carver: _As soon as my parents are in bed, I'm coming online. I feel like continuously killing you and Troy will help my recovery ;)_ (10:02)

As he waited for a reply, he scrolled through his YouTube subscriptions to see if anyone had posted - they hadn't. Sighing, Jake was beginning to think everyone else's lives had stopped momentarily with his.

His phone buzzed.

Noah Carver: _K_ (10:04)

He groaned finally understanding what it was like to feel like a person who was being ignored by their significant other for video games. The groaning had woken up the sleeping dog at the foot of his bed which looked at him grumpily before jumping down, waddling and prying open the door and leaving a guilty looking Jake behind.

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A few blocks over, Gia was on her computer skilfully typing out the report she was set earlier that day. She hated to leave her homework till last minute, it meant that she had little time to reread it and make corrections - everything she did needed to be perfect and that included a stupid book report. She was interrupted by a knock on the door and her father's head peaking into her room.

"How was work?" She asked without removing her mind from the task at hand.

"Successful. No one died on me. Can you remind your friend Jake that he can take his pain meds as little as 4 hours apart? It was hard to get a word in edge ways with his mother." He laughed nervously to try and express that he didn't mean it maliciously. He knew that sometimes his tone could come of as serious way too often - a trait Gia was also graced with.

Gia froze what she was doing - _why was her dad treating Jake? What had he done to himself now?_ Panicking, she remembered that her dad worked for the hospital which meant whatever Jake had done was probably more than the average sprain or bruise. Gia regained her composure however when she realised that her dad would hate himself if he knew he had just given away details about a patient to his daughter, he had cried at the dinner table the last time he had accidentally let something slip.

"Okay!" She tried sound convincing but it came out way too jovial to be so. Luckily, her father didn't seem to notice (probably due to him just coming home from a long shift).

When he had left the room and closed the door behind him, she quickly walked over to her phone and nervously sent a message to Jake.

To Jake Holling: _Are you okay? My dad says to remind you that you can take your meds every 4 hours?_ (10:12)

She was surprised to find he had text back almost instantaneously.

Jake Holling: _I totally knew that was your dad! Didn't want to ask though in case its like against rules or something_. (10:12)

His reply did not satisfy her, in fact it made he even more worried. Her mind automatically deduced that he was avoiding the question so he didn't worry her even further. She carelessly typed out a reply wanting to hear the answer.

To Jake Holling: _What's wrong Jake? Please tell me, I'm worried_. (10:13)

Jake Holling: _Oh so you are worried about me now? ;)_ (10:13)

To Jake Holling: _Jake. Don't._ (10:13)

Jake Holling: _Gi, I'm fine - really. My mom was just being worried as usual and wanted to make sure I was fine :)_ (10:14)

Furrowing her brow in confusion, Gia immediately started to make her way around her bedroom and started to pack her bag. She paused for a moment, questioning what her brain had automatically made her do and typed out a quick reply.

To Jake Holling: _Why? What was wrong?_ (10:15)

She continued to pack her bag putting in it her pyjamas, her laptop and its charger, her phone charger and the first aid kit that she kept in her wardrobe. She didn't know why she chose to pack it, she was sure her dad and his colleagues would have done a good job with whatever was wrong with him but it made her feel like she was in control so she guessed she needed it as a comfort to her.

She took one look round her room while she put her boots on to check to see if she had forgotten anything. When she was convicted with her own packing, she automatically went into her old sneaking out routine. She walked over to her door and locked it, making sure to keep the key on her just in case she was forced to return through the front door, she turned off the lights to give the impression she was sleeping, swung her backpack onto her back and started to climb onto the windowsill. Luckily for her, her house was only one storey so the window to ground manoeuvre was pretty simple. She closed her window behind her as far she could without locking herself out and set off for Jake's.

Once she had gotten off of her street, she felt safe enough to stop and check her phone without getting caught. She had one new message which she quickly opened.

Jake Holling: _Oh sorry, I just presumed your dad told you. I have been having really bad mygraines the last few days :/_ (10:16)

Even though this didn't quell her worries, his misspelling of migraine made her smile.

To Jake Holling: _Look I'm coming over, anyway you could sneak me in?_ (10:24)

She stayed on the corner of her street for a moment, not wanting towhead any closer without a plan of action.

Jake Holling: _Erm, yeah… My parents have just gone to bed so you are in luck. If you can climb on top of the tool shed, you could easily get into my room. If not I'll come and let you in._ (10:25)

Gia set off again in the direction of his house, she was walking quickly, almost jogging in order to get their as fast as she could. She was anxious to see him, to make sure he was alright, to know that for herself. Living in a reality of such destruction and violence, even something as trivial as a minor hospital visit made Gia scared and grasping for control.

Turning onto his street, she remembering his displeasure when he talked about his neighbours and made a conscious effort to stick to the shadows and be as quiet as possible. She rushed into his back yard seeking out his window. Once she spotted it - it was the only one open - and the tool shed he had mentioned, she hurriedly planned out a route up to it. Taking a bit of a run, she managed to scurry up the side of the shed onto the roof and smiled when she saw Jake appear at the window, clearly informed of her presence my the noise.

"Want a hand?" He slurred, not used to talking with the pain medication.

"Nope, I wouldn't be a very good Ranger if I couldn't handle this," It was true, the window was just a few inches above her head. "And anyway, I don't feel like I trust you to do any heavy lifting right now."

He stood back as she gracefully lifted herself through his open window and into his room. She flicked her hair over her shoulder as she straightened up to get a good look at him. She could tell he wasn't healthy, he was practically grey and she could see from the carefree look on his face that he as either high on pain medication or really happy to see her (probably a mixture of both). But, he was safe, he was still breathing, and he didn't look to be in immediate danger which pleased Gia.

Letting her overprotective instincts take over, she glared at him and then over to his bed signalling that he should be laying down. Taking note, he laid down on the bed with his legs dangling over the side and motioned for her to join him.

Laying down after removing her bag and shoes, she finally began to quiz him about the situation, "So what happened? I know you weren't at school today - or yesterday actually now that I think about it - but I just passed it off as you being at a soccer tournament or something - I should have know something serious was up."

He looked over at her as she stared at his roof. "Don't worry about it, I only feel like a small elephant has been let loose in my head." She looked over and glared at his joking tone and he immediately continued in a more serious manner. "Well, I woke up yesterday morning felling like shit - like actually cannot get out of bed shit. I guess I had been gradually having these pains for the past week now but I was so busy with making sure Noah was alright to realise. My mom saw me and immediately took me to the hospital as she thought an ambulance wouldn't come fast enough… Truthfully I was glad, my mom embarrasses me enough anyway I wouldn't want an ambulance and the whole neighbourhood watching to top that off."

Gia scoffed at the thought of his mother being completely over protective of him and his reaction to it. She kinda glad anyway that she was doing it for her, if she couldn't look after her team member it was nice to know somebody else was.

"My mom (being my mom) insisted that the doctors had to check me out and run every single test they could think of on me just to be safe. And I mean every single one - my mom is very demanding. The doctors agreed with her which was a little scary… then your dad discharged me this morning."

"So you stayed in over night then?" She smiled sympathetically at him, remember her own experience of hospitals at night.

"Yep! It was awful, didn't sleep a wink. I kept on having to be woken up to see if I was alright and to run more tests - it was so annoying… I was so glad to see the back of that place." He finished with a lazy grin aimed at her which immediately calmed her down. She was amazed about how she could do that, just one reassuring grin from him and her whole brain was soothed.

"You're fine though right - they gave you the all clear?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll be fine in a couple of days. All my tests came back clear."

"Are you going to be okay to morph?" She leant up on her elbow and looked down on him, his face still had on an over the moon expression.

"Yep - as long as I be extra careful, I'll probably be completely back to normal next week" He smiled up at her weakly before continuing, "and anyway, Troy has promised not to leave my side until I get the all clear."

"What! Troy knew before me? That's not right!" Gia was shocked, truly. She thought the two of them were closer than that and the thought that Jake had not including her among the first people he told brought her mind into a spiral of doubt on whether he still liked her that way. Gia noted the fact that she felt very disappointed at the possibility of that and placed it on her 'to spend a long time thinking about' list. Yet she was equally shocked but the huge grin, as in kid in a candy shop grin, that had appeared on his face.

"What?!" She asked dazed and confused.

He turned his head away from her slightly and closed his eyes still with content look upon his face. "You…care about me. A lot more than I thought you did." He opened his eyes to take a peak at her reaction.

Her breath hitched in her throat as her mind began a frenzy, searching on a way to respond. She hadn't even thought about it seriously herself yet so she had no clue how to act. As the blush crept up her cheeks she decided to go to her usual cold responsive state deciding to just ignore it. She usually did this when she was frighten or not in control and she was certainly feeling that way then.

"Want to watch some Netflix, I brought my laptop?" She whispered trying to regain the reigns of the conversation. Gia felt a little guilty, Jake had managed to get the nerve to talk about whatever this was between them but she had just shut him down. She shook that thought out of her head as she reminded herself that she didn't owe him anything, she had to figure it out for herself first before should could even consider discussing it with him.

She stood up and walked over to her bag to get the laptop avoiding looking at him in the hopes of not seeing the disappointed look on his face. When she turned around he was sitting up on his bed and starting thoughtfully at her. He was not angry, or disappointed, but he looked like her understood her. Gia was conditioned to automatically presume that the expression was due to his medication and not anything else.

He smiled at her in a way that Gia had never experienced before, it was warm and genuine and reminded Gia of how men looked at women in every cheesy romance film Emma had made her watch.

"Could we give it a miss for tonight? I can't really focus right now…" He murmured suddenly remembering that he was in fact ill and probably had a highly contagious flu. He had momentarily forgotten to warn her due to the excitement of seeing her after such a tiresome couple of day which made him feel guilty - she probably had already caught it by now. "Erm, Gi, the doctors think I probably have the flu so you should probably like go…"

"Don't worry, I've literally had every flu shot under the sun. And besides, someones got to look after you." She walked over to him with a concerned look and gestured for him to lay back against his pillows. Her hand brushed against his arm and she immediately recoiled it. "Damn Jake, you're hot!"

"Thanks, I know... I'm hot stuff right?" He carelessly joked and ended with an amused sound which caused Gia to scowl.

"This is not a laughing matter Jacob!" She placed her hands on her hips and loomed down a him.

"Ouch, full name -"

"Do you have a wash cloth or something I can go get?" She huffed.

"Yeah, through there" He pointed at the door on the opposite side of the room from them which made Gia rase her eyebrows.

She strolled over to it and opened it up surprised to see a full (and surprisingly clean) bathroom behind it. "You have your own bathroom?" She whispered as she entered looking for her intended item, weary that the bathroom could echo and wake up the rest of his household. He didn't reply.

She ran water over the wash cloth, the stopped and got rid of the excess before returning to his bedroom to find him laying there peacefully with his eyes closed. _Someone must be tried from being poked and prodded by doctors all night._ As much as she hated to admit it, Gia thought he looked adorable.

She perched at his side and placed the wash cloth on his forehead mopping his brow as he opened his eyes and stared up at her sleepily. "You don't have to do this."

She replied with a stern look and continued until she was certain he had cooled down in temperature. By that point he had already begun to doze off and it was around that time when his phone buzzed beside him indicating he had received a message. Gia didn't want to invade his privacy but she decided on checking it anyway just in case it was something important. It appeared from the section she could see on his lock screen to be a long text from Noah explaining to Jake why he should rest and not exert himself which made her grin - their bromance was cute. She looked at the clock, it was nearing midnight and she decided that she should probably be getting back home, she placed the wash cloth on his nightstand and made a move to leave. However she was stopped by Jake reaching out and grabbing her arm.

"Stay" His murmur was almost incoherent but Gia could just about work it out.

She looked down at him once more all sleepy and miserable and she immediately knew that she wanted to stay. It wasn't a romanic need, she didn't want to stay because she was head over heels in love with him (which Gia would assure anyone that that wasn't the case) and just wanted to stay overnight in his bedroom - in his bed - with him. Instead, she wanted to help, to nurture and look after him. She would have done it in a heart beat for everyone on the team, she was just that kind of over protective and worried friend.

"Let me go and get dressed." She sighed. "And don't try anything out…"

"I wouldn't have anyway..." She herd him mumble as she pulled her clothes out of her bag and went to go and change in the bathroom. She praised herself when she realised she hadn't packed embarrassing clothes like the last time he saw her in her pyjamas and even gave herself a quick run down in his mirror before realising that she was caring too much about her appearance and shook herself out of it. What had gotten into her lately?

She came back into the room and nervously took the place next to him in the bed under the sheets careful not to brush up against him too much. Immediately he curled around her and she could feel his steady breath against her back which relaxed her. She noted that he had made sure not to touch her - much like she had done to him, which made her smile. It was nice to feel respected in terms of romance by a guy and she was only just coming to terms with Jake doing it often.

She closed her eyes and focused on his breath and the warmth radiating off of him, reminding herself that she was only there for his comfort and wellbeing and not because she was starting to become fond of his company...

* * *

 **Once again I am so sorry that I forgot to upload this (well technically I had forgotten that I had forgot…) I was so amused when I had found out what I had done - it was such a me thing to do.**

 **Don't worry guys, I'll remember to post the next chapter when I've finished it ;) I'm aiming for Sunday as I have a lot on this week (I've even set reminders up on my phone and everything) and it will in clue an incite into the morning after awkwardness that proceeds this chapter.**

 **Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews and follows and faves. They mean so much to me and inspire me to write more. :)**


	5. Samurai Surprise

**AN: Hi y'all, thanks for such lovely reviews, they are a pleasure to read! Chapter 5 guys! We are a quarter of the way there!**

 **Sadly I have yet another excuse here: I'm not updating this story as regularly as I want to (ideally i'd be doing this twice a week) but it seems like luck has not been on my side… My wifi connection is not working at my place for some reason so i've had to wait to post this chapter until I could manage to trek over to Starbucks/McDonalds with my laptop and use their free wifi! I'm getting a guy to come out and have a look at the problem in a few days and I've already nearly finished the next chapter so hopefully there wont be too much of a delay.**

 **This chapter is set after 'Samurai Surprise' so there's been a slight jump in time between the last chapter and this one. Safe to say, Jake and Gia are very confused in this chapter.**

* * *

Jake was confused and once again the source of said confusion was the mysterious Gia. This was becoming a regular occurrence for the ranger, she could trap him inside a perpetual state of mental torment just by looking at him and it was driving him crazy. One look, one smile would send his mind into a frenzy so the fact that she had spent the night in his bedroom - _in his bed_ \- with him was enough for his brain to shut down. Gia Moran was a mystery that he desperately needed to get to the bottom of.

He groaned and placed his head in his hands. He was sitting at his desk after finishing a paper for his history class which meant that he no longer had a distraction to keep his mind from spiralling into sentimental but frustrating thoughts about Gia. Well that was a lie, he could be doing his algebra homework (although he probably wouldn't be doing that anyway) or playing the latest violent video game alone but the Gia funk had made even that undesirable. When he had gotten the history assignment that morning, he was overjoyed. Jake loved history, it was the only subject he was good enough to be in AP for and he enjoyed it - if it wasn't for his dad pushing him towards economics and business he would happily major in history at college. So he started the project as soon as he got home, breaking only for dinner, as he knew it could successfully keep him from thinking about a certain blond. But now, with nothing to distract him, he was left to think.

He remembered that morning. The morning he had woken up before her, head still banging but he was feeling content as throughout the night she had ended up in his arms. It felt good. What felt even better was the arms that he had wrapped around her were covered by her own. It felt natural, liked they belonged together. He recalled how he had pulled her in closer before attempting to fall back to sleep, savouring the feeling of her there in his arms. In retrospect, this freaked Jake out. Now that he had recovered from having a constant migraine (turns out they weren't flu induced but down to stress) he realised the extent to what had happened. The line had been crossed between them. Things had changed.

And things had changed. Yet Jake couldn't pinpoint whether this change was a good one or a bad one. On one hand, the two were ignoring each other as much as two teammates could without raising suspicions."Do not mention this again" were the only words spoken by her that morning before she left just as mysteriously as she came. Since then, they had been dancing around each other, stealing glances when the other one wasn't looking, blushing when eye contact was occasionally made, and their conversations had been kept to a minimum. But on the other hand, things were different, it was like their relationship had been kicked up a notch. It was no longer just glances or touches, there was meaning behind them, romance. Jake was pretty sure this feeling was mutual, he only had a small string of awkward ex girlfriends to go on but he felt he knew enough about girls to know whenever he caught Gia looking at him in class, it wasn't random.

Groaning for what seemed like the millionth time that night, he pulled out his phone deciding to do something about the situation. His first thought was to text Emma - it was what Jake was used to, awkward and childish relationships that lasted at the most four months - but he decided to take a different approach this time. He was going straight to the source. Something about Gia made him want to do things differently, which scared him deeply.

To Gia Moran: _Hey_ (08:13)

 _Great start Jake._ He sighed at his lack of communication skills and racked his brain for an excuse he can give to talk to her. He knew Gia enough to know that stating outright what he wanted would make her a deer in the headlights and would push away from him. He needed to ease her in. Part of him contemplated that he shouldn't be pushing his feelings on her but he quickly reminded himself that he wasn't, he just needed to know what was going on between them so he could stop assuming, all this confusion was bad for the team - and them.

Gia Moran: _hey_? (08:14)

 _Shit_. Panic had begun to set in. He had no clue where to go from here. He decided to go with the first idea that came to the forefront of his brain.

To Gia Moran: _Do you take Algebra?_ (08:16)

 _Wow. Smooth Jake, real smooth._

Gia Moran: … _yeah, we are in the same class? Are you okay?_ (08:17)

He groan again at his stupidness - groaning had become a regular thing for him thanks to Gia (and not in a good way).

To Gia Moran: _Not really, do you think you could help me on the homework, please? :)_ (08:18)

Jake was proud of himself that he managed to bring the conversation back onto the task at hand.

Gia Moran: _I guess. Only if you bring some vanilla ice cream. ;)_ (08:19)

He was surprised at how easy it was to get her to agree to meet up. Jake presumed she was just as eager to continue their nightly conversations routine as he was.

Gia Moran: _My window will be the only one open._ (08:20)

He needn't think how to respond.

To Gia Moran: _On my way._ (08:20)

He called down to his mother that he was going to go to sleep and that no, he wasn't ill, just tired. He packed his Algebra homework into his bag before moving over to his sister's room and payed her $10 to stay out of his room for the night feigning that he was super tired. He knew she saw through his act but she was content enough with the money to let it slide. He moved back into his room and begun to make the decent down to his lawn below. Despite the fact he hadn't taken this route in a few years, he remembered the correct way to tackle it with ease.

* * *

Jake, once he had found Gia's open window, praised Gia's parents for buying a one storey house which meant he didn't have to come up with a complicated route up to her room. Prior to knocking on the window and alerting Gia of his presence there, he took a moment to survey what was about to happen, he had to some how steer the conversation over to them without making Gia uncomfortable and he also had to mentally prepare himself at the thought of being in Gia's room with her. But all that worry went away as soon as he saw the ever so beautiful Gia Moran beaming down at before beckoning him into her room. As per the usual cycle of thoughts that went through his mind when around her, he immediately became confused at how happy and welcoming she was being, a few hours ago they were almost certainly avoiding the other.

He climbed into the room anyway, complimenting himself that he managed to do so without making a fool out of himself. Immediately he was overwhelmed by how… lemon the room was. He was expecting Gia's room to be slightly more subtle than his when it came to their ranger colours but even her desk had a yellow undertone to it. He awkwardly removed the ice cream from his bag that he had just bought from the store in an attempt to avoid being rude and just staring at her room, taking in all her personal items.

"Erm here you go," He timidly, handing over the ice cream while subconsciously checking her out. "Do you have any spoons?"

"Spoons? Who said you were having any?" She teased as she took the container from him. Flirty Gia was back which instinctively sent Jake's thoughts spinning again. He was going to have to by a 'Gia Moran For Dummies' book at this rate because he was totally lost in the labyrinth that was her.

He stiffly ran his hand through his hair in the attempt to find something to do with it, "Well, I did buy it." If she was going to start this game, he was obviously going to play it with her.

"Well you buy Froyos all the time that you never eat so you should be used to it by now." She smirked, raising her eyebrow at him and crossing to the other side of the room leaving him hoovering by her window, unsure what to do with himself.

"Speaking of Froyos, I don't know whether you have to buy them for a week or not…" The strength of his voice and the ease at which it came out startled Jake. In that moment, standing in her room like a terrified mouse, he was so uncomfortable that he had even become self conscious at the rate of his breathing. So naturally it was a surprise to him that he managed to string together a sentence let alone speak it so clearly.

"On second thought, maybe you do need a spoon too." She turned away from him and picked up the two spoons she had early retrieved from the kitchen. Sitting down on the bed, she opened the box and motioned for Jake to join her.

"Didn't your parents get suspicious about the spoons or do you just keep them in your room?" He tried to joke but the intimidation he felt from being in her personal space didn't make it very effective. He took the other spoon off of her and then sat on her bed.

"My mom's away for a case and my dad had an early shift so he's sleeping like a log right now, so there was no one around to see it…this ice cream is great by the way." She motioned for him to delve into it also which he did. "So how was 'the talk' with your dad."

"Well, it went alright I guess?" He sighed, scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and savoured the taste. Gia was observing him the whole time which made his blood rush to his cheeks. "I mean, he has apologised for just assuming that I was going to follow in his footsteps and he is even looking into different majors and colleges."

"…but?" She prompted him on, nervous about the other part of the story.

"But he seems to still be adamant that my future is all about business." He bravely looked up from the food to meet her gaze.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well at least you got somewhere." She said optimistically in the hope to give some moral support.

She shifted on the bed so that she had her head against the headboard and stretched her legs out in front of her. She was wearing shorts. Jake had noticed it the second he had gotten into the room (of course he would have, he was a hormonal teenager and she was THE Gia Moran) but her actions gave him a good view of their greatness which Jake regrettably spent a little too long staring at. He swore she was doing it on purpose but that could just be his imagination and him possibly being a total sleaze. Yet with the flirting and inviting him over was making it a possibility. Safe to say, he could not wrap his head around her.

When she realised what had kept Jake quite for a while so spoke up to bring her teammate back to reality, "So I think it's only fair to say that either we have both lost and therefore we have to do both punishments or we both win and we do nothing. What do you think?"

Finally getting over the fact he was on Gia Moran's bed with her, he had begun to warm up to the conversation on got back to his usual flirty self (no doubt her shorts had something to do with that). "Oh definitely we both win, a week carrying your books would mean that I actually had to see you - which is awful." He moved up the bed to join her skilfully creating a facade that it was for better ice cream access but in fact he just wanted to be closer to her.

"That would be awful!" She returned sarcastically and flashed him a smirk.

"Although I would kinda like to save money, it's not like my dad is uber rich and I can spare it." He shifted closer to her, brushing their shoulders together and the funny feeling created from the touch was noticed by both of them.

"True. You do make a good argument. Maybe you will just have to put up with me for a week." She said turning to look at him with only slight hints of amusement in her face. He admired how she could be so deadpan in this situation, he on the other hand was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah maybe…" He snuck a glance at her lips debating whether or not to make a move.

"It's on." She mumbled before moving closer to him. She didn't know what came over her, she couldn't think straight.

Their lips were inches away by that point and Jake swivelled around to get a better angle. She looked back up at him, noticing how close he was and how close they were to crossing a undisclosed line between them. She decided to pull away before that could happen, immediately regretting it when she saw it has disheartened Jake slightly.

"I know you didn't come here for homework help." She placed the long forgotten ice cream and spoons onto her nightstand as she moved on the conversation to keep her from feeling guilty.

"Oh?" Jake couldn't even fathom what was going through his head.

"Yeah, like I said, we are in the same class so I know you are more than capable than that easy piece that was set."

Jake chose to remain silent. He was in awe of how easily she could read him while he himself had such a hard time with her.

"Besides, if you needed help, you would have asked Noah - who is also in our class I should remind you." She joked and looked over to him expecting a grin but all she was met with was his stare, it wasn't an angry 'we nearly kissed and then you pulled away' one, he looked more like he was completely intoxicated by her. This brought a lump to her throat.

"What are you doing here?" She asked nervously, dropping her tone down to the mirror the look he was giving him.

"I missed you." He murmured and sat up completely thus breaking their contact which only made Gia yeah for it to return.

"Oh." Was all Gia could say. Jake puzzled her. Most of the time he was his usual flirty and jokey self but occasionally, like in that moment, there was something serious and deep about him that made her stomach flutter which Gia couldn't quite place her finger on.

"Yeah, one minute we were totally cool and hanging out all the time, things were going great. Then I got sick…and that happened… and now we have been avoiding each other." He sighed and placed his head in his hands.

"We haven't-" She muttered.

"We have."

That stopped her continuing for a second. He was right, she had been avoiding him.

"I don't know." She mumbled, stood up from the bed and crossed to the other side of the room to get as far away from him as possible. It was true - she had no clue what what was happening between them and that scared her. She had no control over their relationship, her feelings were awry and she didn't know whether she enjoyed this lack of power or not which made her fear it even more. She just wanted him gone so she could figure it out alone, but then again she wanted him to stay because being in his presence felt great. She groaned at the confusion she felt.

"Me neither." She heard him reply as he turned his head to look at her with such severity it made her heart race.

She immediately wanted to flee from this situation. She had no idea how to think or act which was unfamiliar territory to Gia. Knowing that she couldn't exactly leave him in her room alone, she settled on getting him to leave.

"Look, you should probably get going so you don't wake my dad…" She quickly walked over to where his bag had been throw on the floor and gave him it in a panic. She frantically stumbled over to her desk and pulled out her already completely algebra homework and practically clumsily there it at him muttering that he should give her it back when he was done. She walked over to the window and opened it further so he had easy access out and then moved out of the way so he could leave. Turning back to look at him, her heart raised again at the sight of him. He was standing up now, bag and her homework clutched to his chest where she had given him it but she was still looking at her like _that_. That look that she had never seen until that evening in her room.

He walked over to the window without breaking eye contact, she knew that a blush had begun to creep up to her cheeks. He stopped just before the window ledge and looked down at her. There wasn't much of a heigh difference between them but right then she felt tiny under that stare but also comforted at the same time. Her heart was now pounding in her ears, her palms were getting sweaty and she was breathing like she had ran a mile. It amazed her how one look could have suck a powerful effect on her. He needed to go now before she exploded. Or did she actually want to explode?

Her next actions she doubted she would ever manage to understand. As quickly as she had decided to remove him from her room she reach up and pulled his lips to hers, wrapping her hands round his neck as best she could with the bag in between them. She had kissed him with such force and tenacity that he had been caught of guard but after a moment or two he managed to get his brain to reciprocate in the kiss. He managed to free a hand and placed it on her waist, attempting to draw her as near as possible to him as he could manage and increased the pressure of the contact. He was no longer thinking, just acting. All he knew was it felt good and he never wanted to stop.

Therefore it came as a great surprise to him when she pulled away from him looking like a startled bunny. Before he knew it, her hands were on his chest and with a firm push he was outside, on the floor on his backside with his legs aching from where they had collided with her windowsill as he was pushed out. He laid there for a second as Gia closed her window and her curtains in a panic and then got up and immediately left the scene before anyone could see what had just happened. The last thing they needed was neighbourhood gossip.

Gia was freaking out. She hurried over to the forgotten ice-cream and took a huge spoonful of it in the hopes to quell the stampede of thoughts in her brain.

She groaned as she recalled in her head what had happened. What on earth had she just done?

* * *

 **So there you go! They finally kissed! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

 **As I said in the opening note, I don't think it will be long until my next update. I've nearly finished the chapter so all you really need to wait for is the guy to miraculously fix my internet or for I to stop watching Criminal Minds reruns and to get somewhere with wifi.**

 **Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a review if you have enjoyed :)**


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